Mr. Speaker, I am thankful to be able to raise my voice on Bill S-16.
The Reform caucus supports the content of Bill S-16. The bill is technical in nature and addresses some tax discrepancies between Canada, Vietnam, Croatia and Chile, along with agreements that Canada has with 64 countries.
The bill is part of the thousands of similar mutual agreements that increasingly are being made between countries and organizations. It reflects the growing realization that co-operation and friendly competition under the same set of rules in the long run benefits all the players. When enlightened peoples learn to play fair economically by established rules, all of the world societies can be lifted up.
It is the direct opposite approach from the historical methods of socialism and in a partial way the tendencies of NDP governments in Canada. The politics of envy, exclusion and special rules for some and of quotas, exclusive regulation and a host of many other measures that limit basic freedoms in the marketplace are the hallmarks of that kind of thinking. Unfortunately those kinds of hurtful ideas are still rampant in the academic community of the country and in too much of the reasoning from some of the NDP sympathizers.
Although the social goals may be the same as mine, the ideas about what is wise concerning methods of getting there makes all the difference. It goes much beyond belief. It goes to the hard evidence of what it shown over time to work and what is shown not to work.
When I travelled to Moscow last year to meet with Russian parliamentarians I was saddened by the similarity in the underlying concepts of the arguments I heard in their Duma about their resentments requiring economic penalty solutions such as disincentive taxes.
The politics of barriers rather than agreements seem to carry the day. It is no wonder that average Russians will likely always be poor. It comes from the ideas they carry about how to get to a better world and those ideas actually destroy any hope of ever getting there.
We have had the same historical problems in this country to a lesser degree. We even still see remnants of those hurtful ideas in the budgets of the present finance minister. Since my election to parliament in 1993 fortunately we have seen the government reluctantly move toward better economic fundamentals, openness, and move away from socialist tendencies. There is hope that we can become fully a freedom loving country where every member of society has a chance to participate in the economy and have the opportunity to take responsibility for their welfare.
The more we get our national economic fundamentals right, the more we as a society will be able to help those who cannot help themselves.
There are agreements of mutual benefit among nations, provincial economic zones, markets and labour zones. All these must continue to be opened up with fairness, avoiding discrimination.
The bill makes an agreement with three countries. Yet we still have a way to go to get it done, to make agreements within our country among provinces to enhance the overall economic welfare of Canadians. If Canada then can set the highest of standards for the regulation of a self-renewing economy, other nations can follow.
For example, when ethical fundamentals were violated in the Asian economy the consequences eventually came to us all in the world. It hurt us all. However the bill represents the possibility of the opposite trend where we can get our economic fundamentals right and the whole world community can be elevated to fulfil its human potential.
Mutual agreement in fairness is the goal. How we get there in the process is also important. That is why I am concerned about the precedent this bill sets by being first tendered by the government in the Senate.
We do not agree that the bill should come from the other place. Did the Minister of National Revenue or the Minister of Finance feel that the House was too busy to handle this bill from the beginning? Or did the government think that it needed to give the other place a bit of work?
Reform truly believes that bills may sometimes come from the other place, however only if the other place is elected, effective and equal. So far, none of these traits generally characterize the other place.
This week was the first week for a few new senators. Senator Mahovlich put on his new suit on Tuesday, which we know from reading the full page ad in the Globe and Mail was picked out by his personal shopper at Harry Rosen. Off he went probably thinking to himself that he had it made, no coaches yelling at him, no penalty box and lots and lots of vacation time. Who can blame any senator for feeling that way? Senator Thompson took good advantage, as have many others.
If I had an attendance record like some of today's senators, I would have to begin looking for a new job. My constituents would give me the boot pretty fast. But senators do not have constituents. They may say they do but it has become more of a figure of speech. I would propose that if one randomly asked 10 people in Ontario to name one senator from Ontario, most would be very hard pressed to do so. Most would probably say Alexei Yashin and although he is a senator, he is not from the other place.
I do not stand here today to criticize everything that is wrong about the other place. In fact, it could very well be quite effective. It definitely has the potential, if it was reformed. Senator Ghitter may have said it best when he said “We do not need to abolish the Senate. We need to change it. It is either that or maintaining the status quo which means more and more downward slide of the Senate”.
Throughout this past year I served on the Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access. The committee was made up of senators and members of the House of Commons of all political stripes. Our goal was and is to suggest changes to the unbalanced Divorce Act. I can honestly say that the work performed by senators was excellent.
Many know already that the attendance record in the other place of Senator Cools is very good. Her attendance and her work ethic in the committee was also very good. I know that Senator Cools was also appointed. I also know that the senator takes her job very seriously. She has been a tremendous advocate for the disadvantaged who have been shafted by the judicial system.
Senator DeWare is also another member of the committee who not only had a good attendance record but provided a great deal of knowledge and compassion to the issue.
Unfortunately, these two senators seem to be exceptions to the rule of the other place. We know full well of the exploits of Senator Thompson and his abysmal record. We also know of Senator Lucier who attends less than half of all sitting days.